Blaise Pascal

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Transcript of Blaise Pascal

BLAISE PASCALWho is Blaise Pascal?Born on June 19, 1623 in Clermont-Ferrand, France17th Century Mathematical geniusBest known for being a mathematician, physicist and religious philosopher, who laid the foundation for the modern theory of probabilitiesWorks citedBurton, D. M. (2011). The History of Mathematics. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.Hosch, W. (n.d.). Pascal's triangle. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Retrieved December 20, 2013, from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/445453/Pascals-trianglePomerantz, H. (1997). The Role of Calculators in Math Education. Retrieved January 12, 2014, from http://education.ti.com/sites/US/downloads/pdf/therole.pdfRaven, A. (2010, October 19). Blaise Pascal biography. Bio.com. Retrieved December 11, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/blaise-pascal-9434176Ross, J. F. (2004). Pascal’s legacy. NCBI. Retrieved December 20, 2013, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1299210/

Early LifePascal was home schooled by his father, EtienneStudying mathematics was forbidden in their household, sparking his curiosityEventually, Etienne allowed Blaise to study the principles of geometry He was able to determine that the sum of the angles of a triangle is two right anglesEARLY LIFEAfter realizing his son was a prodigy, Etienne enrolled him in math workshops where he was able learn and comprehend math on a higher levelThese gatherings encouraged him to write an essay entitled “Essai pour les coniques”In this essay, he deduced over four hundred propositions on conic sections This resulted in the creation of his first theorem, known as Pascal’s mystic hexagon theoremTHE pascalinePascal wanted to construct a mechanism that would make his father's job of straightening out tax records more tolerableFor two years, he worked on a clockwork apparatus that would quickly solve addition and multiplicationThe final product was a complex mechanism, which he named the "Pascaline"LIVING IN FRANCELiving in France allowed Pascal to attend mathematical gatherings that ultimately contributed to his successThis enabled him to meet and work with mathematiciansHe was given the opportunity to study new concepts and develop his own, which may not have happened if he did not attend these meeting in ParisSome of these present day concepts and technologies derived from Pascal include:The Calculator and The Probability TheoryBlaise Pascal is a very influential man who has made significant contributions to the evolution of mathematics.

presented byMellorie capistrano&patricia gerongcothe cycloidIn 1658, Pascal became interested in solving problems about the cycloidThe cycloid is a curve formed by tracing a point on the circumference of a circle as it rolls along a straight line

Pascal worked on calculating the area under one arch and solving for the volume and surface area of the solid obtained by revolving the curve about the base lineAfter eight straight days of furiously working, he later published his solutions in “History of the Cycloid”what it means for us todayPascal’s numerous contributions to mathematics have made lasting impacts on our world and are the foundation to many of our concepts and technologies today Some of these present day concepts and technologies derived from Pascal include...The calculatorDue to the development of the Pascaline, the calculator was inventedIt has become such an essential tool in learning because it reduces the time spent on performing basic calculations and allows more time on developing mathematical understanding and reasoningToday, calculators are one of the most valuable educational tools for studentsthe probability theoryDerived from Pascal’s triangleIt changed the way we regard uncertainty, risk and decision-making and has the ability to influence the course of future eventsFor instance, with the use of the probability theory, gamblers can evaluate a game by simply calculating the possible occurrences of a certain number, card or valueAlso used in areas, such as forecasting weather, assessing risks in medical treatment, and even in predicting the likelihood of being struck by lightningIt is the very essence of modern-day risk analysis and managementin conclusionBlaise Pascal is a very influential man who has made significant contributions to the evolution of mathematicsHad he dedicated his whole life to his studies, Pascal may have enhanced the subject to a greater extentNonetheless, no other mathematician displayed greater natural genius than Blaise Pascal whose inventions and discoveries have played a major role in our world todayDEATHDuring the final years of Pascal's life, he suffered from extreme headachesIt was later discovered that the cause was a malignant growth in his stomach that spread to his brain, forming a lesionPascal died in Paris on August 19, 1662PASCAL'S TRIANGLEPascal became involved in gambling with dice for a period of time in his lifeThis encouraged him to work on probability and figure out the chances of getting different values for rolls of dicePascal published “Traite du Triangle Arithmetique” in 1654, and created what is known today as Pascal’s triangleThe development of the arithmetic triangle provided an advance in algebra and probability, changing the world of mathematicsPASCAL's triangleThis triangle has an infinite numerical table in ‘triangular form’, where the nth row of the triangle lists the successive coefficients in the binomial expansion of (x + y)^n It is constructed in a way that each number is a result of adding the number to its left to the number above it - with the exception of the first column and row which contains only 1s